Wal-Mart has opened an environmentally-friendly store in Texas. It's experimental, but if it proves cost-effective, there could be more. Link. Excerpts:
Walk in and you'll find the familiar assortment of fresh produce alongside low-priced clothing, diapers and tires.
But then there's the grid of white fabric ductwork -- or "Duct Sox" -- suspended 11 feet above the floor, and the black tubing around the frozen food sections that recycles the hot air generated by the refrigerators.
Moseley said the low-hanging ductwork will cut energy costs because it heats or cools only the lower 11 feet of the store, unlike ceiling-mounted ventilation systems that need to push air at least twice as far. . .
At the back of the store, in the men's room, you'll find urinals with no flush handles.
Wal-Mart insists they are clean and odor-free, and will save 80,000 gallons (30,280 litres) of water per year. A special oil in the base keeps the waste down and prevents odors from drifting up.
In a side room near the auto repair dock is a large storage tank that holds the used cooking oil from fried chicken made in the deli section. In winter that will be mixed with motor oil extracted during oil changes and used to heat the store.
Behind the store are what appear to be two retention ponds. In reality, they form a "bio-swale" -- a channel where rocks, shrubs and grasses help trap pollutants and cleanse runoff from the parking lot.
The cleaner water is then pumped via windmill power back through an irrigation system to water the trees and shrubbery around the store. Each plant has its own tiny black tube that drips just enough water to sustain it.
